Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: AIR Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton reportedly told Prime Minister Keir Starmer that a Ministry of Defence assessment made last year showed a £28 billion shortfall between now and 2030.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary John Heeley were also at the meeting, as first reported by The Times and The Sun newspapers. The news is thought to have prompted Starmer to order an overhaul of the defence investment plan (Dip), which has been delayed after first being expected in the autumn.
A Government source said the UK is “on track” to fulfil the commitments outlined in the review. Sir Richard took over as Chief of the Defence Staff in September and is responsible for the delivery of the strategic defence review published in June, as the UK has pledged to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary John Heeley were also at the meeting
The review also set out a goal to raise spending to 3 per cent in the next Parliament “when fiscal and economic conditions allow”. The news of a shortfall comes as the UK pledged to put troops on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, and after UK bases and military personnel supported a US operation to seize an oil tanker in the Atlantic, said to be part of a “shadow fleet” seeking to evade sanctions on Iranian oil.
Britain and France signed a historic agreement committing to putting boots on the ground in Ukraine as soon as any ceasefire with Russia comes into effect, reported The Independent. The document, signed at a summit in Paris by French president Emmanuel Macron, Starmer and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, was hailed as “a significant step forward” in ensuring Kyiv has security guarantees that would deter a future Russian invasion.